All That Matters
by Fannye
Summary: Nothing is hopeless when there is still love... a collection of moments that lead to reconciliation.
1. All That Matters

_The wonderful world of Grey's Anatomy and our favorite couple belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC._

_Slightly different with a new A/N at the end. The story will continue… in a way._

* * *

**-All That Matters-**

One horrible decision that led to unspoken words thrown in anger and accepted with disbelief had changed the fabric of their relationship.

It made one grow hard and unrelenting as the storm that raged outside.

And the other to see the truth and resolve to protect and fight for the things she loved.

They had to finally accept and admit that they had made mistakes, that they both had made their relationship toxic in its own way. But they found that although their trust in each other was broken, their love wasn't gone.

It was just bent at awkward, unstable angles.

So they rebuilt themselves slowly; individually at first, with different therapists to work through their own issues. They lived separately from each other then; across the hall so that Sofia wouldn't be too confused but close enough that they didn't feel alone.

They still needed each other. The first time as Callie ran across the hall to sit behind Arizona and support her when she couldn't control her phantom limb pain on her own after a nightmare. Then later, as Arizona walked across the hall without hesitating to hold Callie in her arms the night she had finally talked to her therapist about losing Mark.

They took baby steps together and then watched with wonder as Sofia toddled on unstable legs, her first steps across the hall to one mother and then with a giggle back to the other.

They moved back in together that night and sold Mark's apartment permanently as a testament to their recovery apart. They wouldn't be separate anymore, or hold on to a place that made that a valid excuse for one or the other.

They worked on their relationship with the help of a new marriage counselor, taking every step seriously as they rebuilt the trust they had both shattered. Promises had never been easy between them, but they made their first together to be honest. The words that they said between them weren't always easy. Sometimes they were thrown in anger, other times they were whispered in heartbreak. But they kept what they had promised and slowly the trust began to grow again.

They rose out of the ashes that they had become on that fateful night in the attending's lounge. Still themselves, but a better version that would turn to each other and not hide or run away from the ups and downs that their life was sure to throw at them.

A year after that night that everything had seemed to fall apart, Sofia was lying on Arizona's stomach playing with her necklace that lay on her chest. They had moved their rings to sit next to their matching hearts the night they decided to stay together; they had stayed in the same place throughout their recovery and were worn as a sign of their commitment to each other and the love they refused to give up on.

A few simple words out of Sofia's mouth as she slipped that ring onto her little finger made Arizona laugh and Callie smile. Rings did belong on fingers, but not theirs. That was until Callie looked across the couch and simply stated that new ones could belong.

_Marry Me_.

Two simple words from Callie's mouth that sealed their journey back to each other and one simple response from Arizona that faded all of the scars they had carried with them for so long.

Meant to be…

Made for each other…

Soul mates…

All words that people whispered with tears in their eyes as they married each other again on a beautiful spring day. A legal ceremony with Sofia between them, their necklaces proudly displayed on their chests and new rings on their fingers to symbolize the rebirth of their relationship.

They had weathered the storm that had nearly broken them and fought for themselves and each other.

They had screamed and cried and laughed… but through it all, they loved.

And love in the end, is all that matters.

* * *

_So, for those of you that had never read this before when it was originally posted… I had a number of stories about the aftermath of the finale in progress but I just couldn't finish any of them. I happened to have my iTunes on shuffle and this just literally flowed from my fingers as I listening to Marry Me by Train. _

_I wasn't planning on continuing it because it was really more of a drabble that came to me in one long writing moment… which let me stress- __rarely happens__. But I've found myself writing a number of important moments from this story of reconciliation. _

_I can say that this will be different from some of the other fantastic post 9x24 stories that are out there (major kudos to Ghostwriter68 and __OddCoupler222__, __the authors of "Choices" and "Fractured"- they've both got me hooked and are must reads). This will be a collection of brief moments from my drabble of their reconciliation, so it won't read as a play by play progressive story… I'll be quoting this original in the upcoming chapters so you understand how the little one-shots and elaborations fit as a part of the whole._

_Fannye_


	2. Feel the Storm

_A/N: Go back to chapter one if you've skipped it... things have changed slightly._

_**One horrible decision that led to unspoken words thrown in anger and accepted with disbelief had changed the fabric of their relationship.**_

_**It made one grow hard and unrelenting as the storm.**_

* * *

**-Feel the Storm-**

Callie watched in confusion as Dr. Boswell unpinned the ring from the scrub top and rambled on about being puked on by some baby. She tried to ignore the dread that settled in her stomach as the woman continued to talk, until Arizona turned and looked at her, her eyes showing so much guilt that it stole the breath from her lungs as her mind caught up to the truth of the situation.

Her wife had cheated on her.

The pain of that truth had her turning on her heal and pushing her way out of the NICU as she ignored Arizona's frantic pleading for her to wait.

Her mind worked without her consent, pushing theory after theory into play that could explain her wife's ring finding it's way onto the chest of Dr. Boswell as she made her way down flights of stairs and lit hallways. She was pacing the attending lounge when she finally realized that there wasn't an answer. The only real solution was that Arizona had taken off her scrub top and mixed it up with the one that Dr. Boswell had been wearing.

Which meant that Arizona had taken off her clothes with another woman? Arizona had let another woman…

Callie let the tears come then, collapsing onto one of the makeshift beds in the middle of the room. She rested her forehead against her palms, allowing the tears to flow freely down her face and pool around her neck.

She pushed herself upright at the sound of the door opening, wiping her face as she turned to face the person in the dimly lit room. She didn't expect to see Arizona standing there and couldn't help but take a few steps back as her wife closed the door behind her and turned to see the devastation written on her face.

She could see Arizona swallow across the room before she opened her mouth. No sound came out and she watched as she shook her head, tears evident in Arizona's eyes as she took a breath and tried again to speak in the silence that was stretched between them. "Callie…" she croaked**.**

"Did," Callie interrupted, taking a breath and wiping at the tears on her face as she steeled herself for the worst question she could ever be forced to ask. "D-did you sl-sleep with her?"

Arizona's mouth bunched in sure sign that she was fighting to stay in control and that alone was enough to know the truth.

"_Yes_."

It was barely audible across the space between them, but it echoed in both of their hearts as lightening lit up the room and thunder shook the building.

The next few minutes were filled with heartbreaking questions, angry accusations and unspoken feelings that had been lurking under their stability. The room growing silent again as two sentences crumbled the fragile state of their marriage.

"_You didn't lose anything! I did! I did_."

"_Apparently I lost you_."

She didn't stay in that room, couldn't bear to stand there and look at Arizona when she felt like everything was falling apart around her. That all the work she'd put into bringing her wife back, all the work she'd put into keeping her family together was shattered in the blink of an eye.

Arizona had cheated on her, with a woman she'd barely known for three days. Then shattered every idea and hope she had believed about their recovery since the plane crash.

And no matter what she did… it would always be about the leg.

She didn't know what to do. But she did know that she couldn't think or breathe in that hospital where the walls felt like they were caving in on her. When she felt herself come out of her panicked daze she was standing just outside one of the side doors of the hospital, holding onto the doorway as the wind and rain beat down on her.

She closed her eyes and let the fury of the storm beat at her, let herself soak up the anger of the world around her as she stored it in her heart for the time to come.

She's wasn't sure how long she stood there, but eventually she made her way to the attending's locker room, changing into new scrubs and cleaning herself up. She finished her rounds and didn't speak to anyone other than to briefly agree to treatment for a number of patients.

It was well into the next evening before the storm had passed and anyone was able to leave. She took Sofia home and locked the door to their bedroom, holding onto Sofia as she babbled about her day, crying silently as her daughter asked about her Mama. She held her daughter close after she fell asleep in her arms and didn't answer when she heard Arizona come to the door.

She let herself feel the storm again as she heard Arizona beg and cry through the locked door, growing hard and unrelenting as she held Sofia closer to her chest and willed the woman that was no longer her wife to let her be.


	3. Protect the Things You Love

**And the other to see the truth and resolve to protect and fight for the things she loved.**

* * *

**-Protect the Things You Love-**

Arizona stayed in the attending lounge, frozen as Callie walked past her. Her breathing turned heavy and broken as tears finally flowed down her face. The words she threw at her wife kept swirling in her mind, Callie's heartbroken and stoic face burned into her memory. She just couldn't stop herself, couldn't stop the anger that she'd buried from pushing its way back out of her mouth and making everything so much worse.

"_Apparently I lost you."_

God, what had she done?

Arizona pushed out of the room when her pager went off, numbness sinking into her bones as she entered the NICU. She worked for hours, smiling with a fakeness she didn't know she possessed as she stabilized both parents and children alike and avoided Lauren like the plague.

When they were finally granted a release from the hospital the following evening, she made her way across the street after learning that Callie had already picked Sofia up from daycare.

She found the apartment dark and silent, Sofia's bedroom empty and the door to their bedroom locked. She begged and cried, pleaded for forgiveness and a chance just to talk, to see her daughter. The silence from her wife terrified her and made her so weak that she sunk down to sit and lean against the door, murmurs of "I'm sorry" leaving her lips with each hitched breath.

When she woke up it was still dark and in defeat she limped her way back to the hospital slowly, drained and confused. She showered and changed into fresh scrubs in a daze and somehow found herself sitting in an empty lounge room a floor above the PEDs department.

She stared out the window at the sunrise and fought against the tears that were threatening to fall again. Thoughts of how she had ruined everything with one decision, of how she might lose Callie and Sofia forever because she had listened to that… woman and lost control ran through her mind as she blocked everything else out.

"Arizona."

She took a breath and released it slowly, her eyes closing in exhaustion. "Please just leave me alone," she whispered.

"I can't do that."

Arizona scoffed as she looked back out the window, "_Obviously_."

There was quiet for a minute and Arizona hoped that she would just leave her alone as she'd asked. She realized that luck had never been on her side when she felt a hand placed lightly on her shoulder.

She shook it off with disdain and stood, turning to see Lauren with both hands raised in placation, her eyes wide with innocence.

"Don't touch me." She dug deep for the anger she had thrown at Callie only hours ago but couldn't find it, disgusted as her words came out pleadingly.

"I know you're upset, just… I just want to help."

"_You've helped enough_!" The words came out as a frustrated yell and she felt herself lock into place, the anger stabilizing her as she faced Lauren just a few feet away.

"Arizona… I know this is hard. Everything has been hard for a long time but it can get better." She paused and took a step forward, smiling slightly when Arizona didn't take a step back to match it. "I can make it better if you just let me," she added softly.

Arizona shook her head, stepping back as Lauren took a step forward. "No one can make it better… I- I ruined everything."

"Then it wasn't meant to be." Lauren said sympathetically and crossed the remaining steps between them. "You belong with someone who can make you feel good. I can do that if you just let me."

She felt Lauren rest her hand on her hip, freezing as the other came up slowly to cup the back of her neck.

"I've been worried about you all day. I just couldn't stop thinking about you." Lauren pulled their bodies together slowly, moving as if Arizona was a frightened animal. "I know you're upset that your wife found out about us but you don't have to be upset anymore." She hugged Arizona to her body briefly before leaning back from the embrace. "Just let go again," she whispered as she moved in to take Arizona's lips.

"_NO_!" Arizona pushed her away, feeling the rage she desperately needed bubble up inside of her. "Stop… _just stop_!"

"Arizona."

"_Stop saying my name_!" Arizona fisted her hands at her temples, trying to block out the chaos that her life had turned into within the past 24 hours. She breathed deeply through her nose, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing as she tried to calm down and gain some sense of control of the situation in front of her.

"I made a mistake." Arizona said the words slowly and paused as the words settled in her heart.

Yes, she was still angry with Callie.

Yes, she didn't know how they were going to move past the issues of trust and her infidelity.

But she knew without a doubt, deep down in her soul that she still loved Callie and that she couldn't imagine her life without her in it.

"I love my wife," she said as her eyes met Lauren's across the room, "and no, things have not been perfect in our marriage but I'm not this person. I won't betray my wife and my daughter again."

Lauren looked at her quizzically for a few moments, the silence between them allowing Arizona to rationalize what had happened and allow the guilt to multiply in her gut.

"Do you really think your wife will take you back after this?" Lauren huffed out a breath in disbelief. "We have something- something that obviously you don't have with your wife anymore. Like I said in the NICU, I like you and I won't leave until we talk about what happened… about what we could have together."

Arizona shook her head and walked to the door, intent on making the right decision this time. "There's nothing to talk about. We'll never have anything together Lauren." She opened it and didn't bother to look back as she stepped into the busy hallway.

"I showed your wife your ring so that we could."

Arizona froze as the words registered in her mind, the shocked breath that was pulled into her lungs so painful that it hurt. She turned slowly as she heard Lauren move out of the lounge to stand behind her in the hallway.

"You… you did that on purpose?" She whispered in disbelief.

Lauren shrugged, "I go after the things I want Arizona. I could tell that you didn't want to talk and I saw an opportunity, so I took it." She smiled before taking a step closer. "I thought it was worth a shot since it worked so well in the on-call room."

The slap echoed down the hallway, the fifteen or so people around them freezing and looking at the sound. Lauren gasped as her hand cradled her cheek.

"_Get out of my hospital_." Arizona hissed the words out, unable to stop the red from seeping into the edges of her vision or her stinging hand from balling into a fist as she realized she'd been manipulated by the woman in front of her. "I made a _stupid_ mistake and I don't know if it will cost me my wife and my child." She felt her throat close at those words, the pain of losing Callie and Sofia twisting in her gut. "I was raised to be a _good man_ in a storm and I-I haven't protected the things I love in a long time… but that changes _now_."

She stepped closer to Lauren, hearing the murmurs of those that were watching around them in her ears. "So, I'm not going to say this again. We will _never_ be together and you are no longer welcome in my hospital… _so get out_."

She turned and limped down the hallway, not meeting the shocked faces of her colleagues as she thought of where she might be able to find Avery at such an early hour of the day to get rid of Lauren Boswell for good.

* * *

_I'm sorry but I just had to have Lauren slapped... and it felt oh so good to have Arizona do it._

_Sorry for the long wait, I was out of the country for two weeks visiting Peru (beautiful country- Machu Picchu took my breath away) then spent another week in the mountains of North Carolina with my family. I was stuck with horrible internet service for three long weeks, but had a wonderful time._

_Glad to be back and publishing again :)_

_Fannye_


End file.
